374 Inoculation for Pleuro-Pneumonia in Cattle. 



may truly be said that none of these means have stood the test 

 of extended experience. Under these circumstances it was to 

 be expected that the Royal Agricultural Society would endeavour, 

 by every means at its disposal, to throw some light both upon 

 the nature of the malady and the laws which governed its spread, 

 and likewise upon the causes which, although secondary in their 

 operation, were supposed to exert an important influence on ani- 

 mals in favouring the attack. This it has done by the awarding 

 of prizes of great pecuniary value for the best essays on the sub- 

 ject ; by the publication of papers in the pages of its Journal ; and 

 by the delivery of lectures before its members at their annual 

 meetings. Great benefit no doubt has accrued from these several 

 means, but still the pest remains among us, and at times seems 

 uncontrolled in its virulence. The last supposed beneficial 

 method of combating the disease which has engaged the atten- 

 tion of the Council is that of inoculation, a prophylactic to which 

 their attention was originally directed by i;he Continental publica- 

 tions. It was not, however, deemed advisable at once to take 

 any steps upon these reports, except to request the Professors of 

 the Veterinary College to watch the progress and results of the 

 system, and to give them their opinion of its value. In June 

 last a letter was received by the Council from His Royal Highness 

 Prince Albert, enclosing a communication which had been 

 forwarded to him on the subject. 



From this communication, as well as from repeated notices in 

 the Belgian papers particularly, and the statements of different 

 members of the Society, it appeared that a safe, ready, and effec- 

 tive preventive was found in inoculation. Under these circum- 

 stances the Council lost no time in adopting means for a perfect 

 investigation of the subject ; and at their meeting in July I was 

 directed to take such further steps as might appear best calcu- 

 lated to effect the purpose. Acting on these instructions, and 

 with the concurrence of the Chairman of the Veterinary Com- 

 mittee, I was led to visit Belgium, the plan having had its ori- 

 gin there. At the Veterinary School of Brussels I found eight 

 cows under experiment, they having been inoc\x\diXedi fifteen days 

 prior to my visit with some serous fluid taken from the lung of 

 an animal which had died of pleuro-pneumonia. The operation, 

 which had been performed by Dr. Willems, was undertaken by 

 the direction of the Government, who had sent the animals to 

 the School that the effects of the inoculation might be daily 

 watched by the Professors. The punctures made in their tails 

 (the usual place of inoculation) presented a very healthy condition, 

 and it was evident that a few more days would suffice to com- 

 plete the healing process. The animals were feeding well ; and, 

 with one exception, a cow having a sloughing ulcer of about three 



